Struggles and blessings

September 19, 2012

After a couple of weeks of settling in, we are starting to make friends with students in the area.

By Jon

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Every week we get to go to a language corner, held outside in a big courtyard where everyone gathers together to practice speaking and English. This is really fun, but it can also be pretty hard, because after standing around for just 10 minutes it's easy to get a group of 20 people all around you, most of whom do not care for your personal space. It's fun when you get to ask them questions, get to know more about their culture and make them laugh. But then it gets kind of hard again when people come and go, and you end up answering the same questions over and over again.

As Americans, we attract tons of attention everywhere we go. It can get pretty annoying at times to have everyone staring at you. But the Father has been teaching me to view this as the blessing it really is.

The attention that we attract both at the English corner and everywhere we go is an open door to easily make friends and eventually share the Good News with them. Already, we have had two movie nights where we have had friends come over. Through general conversation about who we are and what we do, we've had many opportunities to share the gospel.

Blessings and struggles go hand in hand, and I will gladly put up with the annoyance of some pushy people and some stares if it helps me to bring glory to my Father. Jon, a student at the University of Texas at El Paso, is serving in East Asia with Go Now Missions. His last name is withheld for security reasons.